The United States and Japan will step up their defence cooperation to deal with the threat from nuclear-armed North Korea as tensions in East Asia remain high, officials from the two allies said on Thursday.

Two stabbed in northern NSW fight

An early morning fight on a suburban street on the NSW north coast has left two people in hospital with stab wounds.

Police say two men were fighting out on a street in Toormina, a suburb of Coffs Harbour, around 4am on Saturday when one of them pulled out a knife and stabbed the other several times in the torso, buttocks, shoulder and arm.

A woman who tried to stop the fight was also hurt after allegedly being cut on the leg.

The trio all knew each other, a police spokeswoman told AAP.

The 37-year-old injured man and woman were treated at Coffs Harbour Health Campus with injuries not believed to be life-threatening.

A 25-year-old man was arrested later in the day and charged with two counts of wound person with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.

He was refused bail and is due to appear in Coffs Harbour Local Court on Sunday.